Pray before we start as a group,
Introduction
Anybody have anything they want to share from previous week?
Anything that has changed, any prayers been answered
Group Time: “Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray! For prayer is a great deterrent. --Leonard Ravenhill”
What do you think to the previous statement?
Have you had high and low points in your prayer life?
Do you enjoy praying for others?
Have you ever been part of a prayer group, what were your thoughts on this?
Have you ever felt God speaking to you? In what way did he communicate?
Anything to share from last couple of weeks with prayer
Prayer headlines prayer sheet from last week
Wilderness time
What happens when you feel far away from God, how do you pray through it – we will all go through this, it might not just stop with prayer, it might actually be a church and God thing. We feel far away from everything and can’t understand how to come close to God again, it’s easier to walk away. And yet Christians who have been through this talk about praying through it, even if it’s only a short prayer. This is when we can go back to prayer being a relationship (although it might not work). If we are having problems in any friendship or marriage just cutting ourselves off from the other person can feel needed but if we want to stay in that relationship how will we know things have changed unless we carry on conversing. We are more likely to get stronger if we still try with God. If we just walk away and ignore him he is going to struggle to make us listen even more.
This is when it’s good to pray with others, to hear their words. Hearing what others say in their prayers can help that, witnessing a relationship with God and basking in the presence with others can help.
God is listening – no matter what is happening we can remember that God loves us and is listening, we might just be having problems searching for the right frequency.
What about when prayer is a burden – sometimes there is a reason for this, a period of suffering, a problem that isn’t resolving, something deeper but working through our problems with prayer and other means is the better option.
Video clip – Bruce Almighty
Richard talking about prayer using the website
Group time
What experience do you have praying for others (when they are with you)
What do you think Highbury needs to do to develop prayer further?
Praying for others, when they are with us
What it involves, general intro to it =
As Christians who have allowed the Holy Spirit into our lives we have the ability to do so many things we would never have thought possible. One of those is praying for others. We might always jump to the scariest thing that could happen and yet frequently when praying for others it is just sitting with them and reminding them how much God loves them. Some people just want to know they’re cared for.
However it can be scary.
It tells us in the bible that as disciples not only should we be going out telling people about Jesus and caring for the poor, it also says we should heal the sick – maybe not healing broken legs or anything but people can be sick in lots of ways.
Why we should do it?
The reason we are intending to do it in church after the service is that sometimes things from talks have touched people, they might have been going through pain, emotional or physical, from the week and have had a bad week and want someone to meet with them and God. It’s a reminder that God loves with them whatever they are going through and might be wanting to change or challenge them.
James 5:13-18
“anyone” can do it – (Philip Yancy book, top of page 256)
It can be scary as you do not know what will happen when you pray for someone, what God is going to do and what is happening in people’s lives but we can pray for people in pairs and we have God with us. There are others around who will have done it before and have more experience. Sometimes we just don’t want to do it, or underestimate ourselves. (me at Soul Survivor…)
But Romans 12:9-13 talks of how we should be there for each other.
Practicalities (see separate sheet)
Group task
Praying for each other
Conclusion
Prayer is a mystery – sometimes things just happen, not a coincidence
Prayer is a relationship, speaking to God
We are aligning ourselves to God, seeing the world as he sees it, seeing where we can do his work
Prayer will change us – ask those who have had a prayer full life and those who have been reached through prayer
Some prayers will be answered just as we expect, some won’t -
God works through people and on this earth through prayers and when answering prayers (human agents), it’s like the story where there is a man on a house, there has been a flood and he asks God to help him. A person goes by on a boat and offers help but he refuses help saying God will help him. Then a helicopter goes by and offers help but he refuses again saying God will help him. Ultimately he goes up to heaven and asks God why he didn’t help him. That’s when God tells him that the boat and the helicopter were sent by God. God answers the prayers of others through us, we are his human agents on earth but we have to stop and listen to what he has to say, rather than just tell him all the things we want.
Homework:
Read four of the Psalms and Job 39, try and expand your image of God, pray with these Psalms, focusing on a different one for each prayer time
Sit in stillness, sit for a couple of minutes, shut out all the noise and activities and wait, ask God to speak to you and then empty your mind. See if anything happens.
If you always pray in one particular way then try something new, e.g. praying little bits all day or just a long time in the morning, or try being artistic, etc
Pray to close
Practical:
Start by praising God, confessing your sins, having a clear heart, ask him to work in people, that those who need prayer will ask, allow yourself to become an agent for him
Pray for someone who is the same sex as you, if possible pray in pairs or groups
Introduce yourself
Ask them what they need prayer for (they don’t have to tell you) or ask “how can I pray for you?”
Some find it hard to be still in God’s presence – let them know it’s their time to be prayed for, they don’t have to talk
You can put your hand on their shoulder, encourage them to hold their hands out
You can sit down or stand up
Ask God to guide your prayers,
Laying on hands is a biblical step for healing and blessing (but be careful where you lay on your hands and you may want to ask permission, and don’t push)
Pray with the person, aloud or in your head – pray for them and the situation, you don’t have to go on and on, just ask God to work with the issue they are dealing with – the more you know the easier it can be to pray
Reassure the person you are praying for (not constantly)
If you feel God telling you something you don’t have to share it immediately, it may be wise to ask someone with more experience if it is something that should be shared
You might want to look up at the person, see what is happening, occasionally ask them if your not sure what is happening – something obvious isn’t always happening
People can respond physically, or in many different ways - don’t worry (don’t worry about tears), let it happen (you may want to grab tissues)
If you feel them waver slightly you might want to make sure you are surrounded by a clear space and also signal someone to help, just in case they will fall.
if you feel out of your depth get someone to come and pray with you (or if you feel bad in some way)
When you and the person you are praying for feel it is an appropriate time to stop then stop, talk over if they felt anything change or happen
Ask if they would like you to continue to pray for them over the next week
the person may need someone to chat to in the long term, don’t feel you have to be counselling people, pray for them and maybe encourage them to see Richard, myself or a member of the pastoral care team
It is a general rule that you keep the prayer secret, however you might have to tell someone depending on the circumstances. You should never promise to keep the prayer secret, especially when dealing with youth – however that doesn’t mean that you go around telling everyone.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Prayer Training - Week 2
Pray before we start as a group,
Introduction
Statement: “How often have we prayed something like, "O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way"? Have we stopped to consider what it is we're requesting? Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. Would you dream of saying, "O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way?" No way. You would say, "Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there's any problem. Any questions before we go?" We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. We want them to know specifics. It should be no different with prayer.”
David Jeremiah
Group time:
Do you agree with the statement? How straightforward should we be in prayer?
Anybody have anything they want to share from previous week?
Anything that has changed, any prayers been answered
Is there such a thing as a prayer routine, is it a good or a bad thing?
Do you know of any “heroes” of prayer, biblical or otherwise, what stood out because of their prayer lives?
How to pray
Using ACTS theme = Adoration – think of some of the things you know about him or read a Psalm, Confession, Thanksgiving – e.g. answered prayers, spiritual blessings, relational blessings and material blessings, and Supplication – the things we want to ask for
This doesn’t really allow for time in silence
Praying in a set way every time can just become a routine, feeling that it is just a job to get done
Need to create space for God to work
The Lord’s Prayer – not necessarily something we have to pray every time, can be the basis on which to form our prayers
Our father - dad
who art in Heaven - focusing yourself on God, God who is up in Heaven and also down here on earth
hallowed be thy name – praising God’s holy name, recognising who you are praying to, holy is your name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven – recognising that the world needs to change, seeing the world as God views it, we need to do the work, understanding how important God’s will is, justice issues
Give us this day our daily bread – please give us all we need to survive, e.g. bread, it’s not about our wants but about our needs
And forgive us our trespasses (sins/debts) as we forgive those that trespass against us (this means our sins, the things we do wrong) – this might be where you confess all your wrongs to God, but we need to forgive others as well, in this place we might be asking God for help with this, forgiveness and responsibility. Brings to mind the idea of “all trespassers will be prosecuted”
Lead us not in to temptation but deliver us from evil – help us against all that tries to attack us, the daily struggles we may face, evil that is against us. We don’t want to make lots of mistakes. We are living in the midst of temptation. Recognising that we need help.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever – again praising God, acknowledging his power and also that he is in control of all, asking for help in this world, in the things we face. We can’t do anything without God, can only do things with God, He is the beginning middle and end, his power is the beginning, middle and end.
Amen – let it be so
Task:
Put something under each ACTS on their piece of paper, can do it through drawing, words, poem, song, cartoon strip, anything, even colour it in! Your personal document, don’t have to show it to anyone. Move around, pray it, etc.
These things all focus on one thing, talking to God, no matter what is said is the priority.
Pray like you mean it, have an expectation of all that God can do (believe that God answers prayers), Acts 12:7-16, it can be so easy to offer prayers as like a wish, hoping something happens, this can be seen in the words we use – God can and does change people, we need to realise this
Hassle God until he answers (Luke 18:2-5) – we hear this parable about a widow who hassles a judge and it reminds us that we can keep asking God for something, he might not respond in any way we expect but we are encouraged to hassle him. In fact, we know how much a child wants something by how much they ask, sometimes we need to let God how serious we are about answering a prayer.
Bargaining? – I think this relates to hassling God, I don’t think we should bargain or test God on a regular basis but people in the bible did do it. In Genesis 18 we hear Abraham plead for the people of Sodom, asking if God would spare the city if 50 good men were there, then 40, 30, 20, 10 and each time God yielded.
Honesty (Psalm 10? Psalm 22? Job 31, Jonah 4) – we can be angry with God, we shouldn’t just pray thinking we need to say the “right words” – this is something that when I first read it really surprised me, honest, even angry but God is the commander of the universe and yet part of the relationship is the honesty, being angry and saying it when it happens, not seething or sulking. Honesty in any relationship is important, as in the relationship with God.
Some prayers get answered and some don’t but I believe that if it is something that is worrying us or in our hearts we can just ask, it is up to God what he does but asking in itself is part of the relationship, once asking we might realise we don’t want it anymore. It doesn’t necessarily matter how we come to God in prayer, we just come and let him take it from there
Ask God to reveal his will to us – in prayer it is not just about us but it is about God, we have to give him space, give him time to respond, not just speak and then close our ears. It is a relationship with our creator, not a plant.
Prayer isn’t a show – this can be really easy to understand fully, because others are listening and we can feel we should put in fancy words, respond in the right way and use it as a public service announcement but God is the same God and the thoughts of others aren’t that important, easier said than done.
It doesn’t necessarily matter how we come to God in prayer, we just come and let him take it from there
Video clip – Bruce Almighty
Group time
Where and when do you normally pray?
Have you ever used any stimuli in prayer? What difference did it make?
What other ways have you prayed? E.g. a prayer walk, sitting in a certain place, in a darkened room, etc
What would you recommend to others for prayer?
When and where should we pray?
Morning, evening? All day? Always? – Jesus prayed at different times of the day, it depends on when is most comfortable for us but praying throughout the day can also be effective for us, e.g. whenever you go to the loo (busy parents) or having regular slots. Maybe 5min slots as reminders on your phone, it doesn’t have to be the same way, words, etc all the time. Maybe you would benefit from a routine, maybe you wouldn’t, everyone is different.
With others, on our own? – in Acts we can see that people prayed in groups and although a lot of the gospel stories talk about Jesus praying by himself it isn’t the only way. There are benefits to both, e.g. praying with others can strengthen them, hearing the words of others talking to God, but it can also be really uncomfortable, people feeling unsure of themselves and not actually conversing with God but an audience. On our own can also be a struggle because we can forget, other things can come up and we let them take priority. However, it is us alone with God, focusing on him and nothing else. (It’s like exercising? It can become a chore rather than a pleasure, routine rather than relationship)
Shut out the white noise – frequently other things can take our attention when praying, it can be good to get away from tv, internet, mobile. There are so many things demanding our attention in this world and sometimes we need to shut it out. If we think about other things while praying, things not to forget we can write down, they can be part of our prayer life.
Anywhere, God is all around us, we need to just bask in his presence, E.g. be careful when driving
Talked about stimuli, different ways to pray – group feedback
Different stimuli and methods (different wedding dresses)
Prayer diary – journaling. Writing a page per day of thoughts about the world, use them as part of your prayers. Or write down your prayers, it might help you focus, knowing your prayers and able to check back and see what you have written.
Through worship – singing praises to God can be your prayers, I like to close my eyes in worship (if I’m not doing anything else), helps me focus on God and the words
If artistic then be artistic, etc – use your gifts in prayer, God gave us our gifts, we can use them in praise to him
Sitting by ourselves? If you don’t normally pray by yourself it is something you might want to try
Together in a group – alternatively if you don’t go to a prayer group and can’t make the church one you might find you want to meet with a couple of others here and have a prayer triplet, meeting for 20mins (ish) every week or fortnight to share prayers, and so you can help each other develop the prayers, alternatively you might want to go through what we discussed last week and ask those you are living with (if you live with others) if they would like to pray with you
Out loud – scary thing, use to make me feel sick and yet , nothing you can say is wrong because it is to God, others may be amused, confused or surprised but they might feel blessed by the words, it might also help them develop in prayer as well. Romans 8:26
Liturgy vs freestyle – some people prefer using set words and words from the bible, some prefer to just say things, both can be good to try. It tells us in the bible not to babble in prayers, liturgy or writing our prayers down might reduce that.
Prayer walk – again it’s understanding different stimuli, praying for the things you see every day, asking God to open your eyes to the need in your area, asking God to show you the area you live in or your church is in.
Use candles, music, water, images, lots of options
Group
Task – read through the papers in your group, use it to create a prayer wall, add comments, cuttings, etc
Pray for each person in small group
Homework:
Carry on your long term task
If you always pray in one particular way then try something new, e.g. praying little bits all day or just a long time in the morning, or try being artistic, etc
When praying don’t just take a list of requests, trying leaving them til last, focusing on praising God first
Start a prayer diary
Pray to close
Introduction
Statement: “How often have we prayed something like, "O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way"? Have we stopped to consider what it is we're requesting? Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. Would you dream of saying, "O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way?" No way. You would say, "Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there's any problem. Any questions before we go?" We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. We want them to know specifics. It should be no different with prayer.”
David Jeremiah
Group time:
Do you agree with the statement? How straightforward should we be in prayer?
Anybody have anything they want to share from previous week?
Anything that has changed, any prayers been answered
Is there such a thing as a prayer routine, is it a good or a bad thing?
Do you know of any “heroes” of prayer, biblical or otherwise, what stood out because of their prayer lives?
How to pray
Using ACTS theme = Adoration – think of some of the things you know about him or read a Psalm, Confession, Thanksgiving – e.g. answered prayers, spiritual blessings, relational blessings and material blessings, and Supplication – the things we want to ask for
This doesn’t really allow for time in silence
Praying in a set way every time can just become a routine, feeling that it is just a job to get done
Need to create space for God to work
The Lord’s Prayer – not necessarily something we have to pray every time, can be the basis on which to form our prayers
Our father - dad
who art in Heaven - focusing yourself on God, God who is up in Heaven and also down here on earth
hallowed be thy name – praising God’s holy name, recognising who you are praying to, holy is your name
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven – recognising that the world needs to change, seeing the world as God views it, we need to do the work, understanding how important God’s will is, justice issues
Give us this day our daily bread – please give us all we need to survive, e.g. bread, it’s not about our wants but about our needs
And forgive us our trespasses (sins/debts) as we forgive those that trespass against us (this means our sins, the things we do wrong) – this might be where you confess all your wrongs to God, but we need to forgive others as well, in this place we might be asking God for help with this, forgiveness and responsibility. Brings to mind the idea of “all trespassers will be prosecuted”
Lead us not in to temptation but deliver us from evil – help us against all that tries to attack us, the daily struggles we may face, evil that is against us. We don’t want to make lots of mistakes. We are living in the midst of temptation. Recognising that we need help.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever – again praising God, acknowledging his power and also that he is in control of all, asking for help in this world, in the things we face. We can’t do anything without God, can only do things with God, He is the beginning middle and end, his power is the beginning, middle and end.
Amen – let it be so
Task:
Put something under each ACTS on their piece of paper, can do it through drawing, words, poem, song, cartoon strip, anything, even colour it in! Your personal document, don’t have to show it to anyone. Move around, pray it, etc.
These things all focus on one thing, talking to God, no matter what is said is the priority.
Pray like you mean it, have an expectation of all that God can do (believe that God answers prayers), Acts 12:7-16, it can be so easy to offer prayers as like a wish, hoping something happens, this can be seen in the words we use – God can and does change people, we need to realise this
Hassle God until he answers (Luke 18:2-5) – we hear this parable about a widow who hassles a judge and it reminds us that we can keep asking God for something, he might not respond in any way we expect but we are encouraged to hassle him. In fact, we know how much a child wants something by how much they ask, sometimes we need to let God how serious we are about answering a prayer.
Bargaining? – I think this relates to hassling God, I don’t think we should bargain or test God on a regular basis but people in the bible did do it. In Genesis 18 we hear Abraham plead for the people of Sodom, asking if God would spare the city if 50 good men were there, then 40, 30, 20, 10 and each time God yielded.
Honesty (Psalm 10? Psalm 22? Job 31, Jonah 4) – we can be angry with God, we shouldn’t just pray thinking we need to say the “right words” – this is something that when I first read it really surprised me, honest, even angry but God is the commander of the universe and yet part of the relationship is the honesty, being angry and saying it when it happens, not seething or sulking. Honesty in any relationship is important, as in the relationship with God.
Some prayers get answered and some don’t but I believe that if it is something that is worrying us or in our hearts we can just ask, it is up to God what he does but asking in itself is part of the relationship, once asking we might realise we don’t want it anymore. It doesn’t necessarily matter how we come to God in prayer, we just come and let him take it from there
Ask God to reveal his will to us – in prayer it is not just about us but it is about God, we have to give him space, give him time to respond, not just speak and then close our ears. It is a relationship with our creator, not a plant.
Prayer isn’t a show – this can be really easy to understand fully, because others are listening and we can feel we should put in fancy words, respond in the right way and use it as a public service announcement but God is the same God and the thoughts of others aren’t that important, easier said than done.
It doesn’t necessarily matter how we come to God in prayer, we just come and let him take it from there
Video clip – Bruce Almighty
Group time
Where and when do you normally pray?
Have you ever used any stimuli in prayer? What difference did it make?
What other ways have you prayed? E.g. a prayer walk, sitting in a certain place, in a darkened room, etc
What would you recommend to others for prayer?
When and where should we pray?
Morning, evening? All day? Always? – Jesus prayed at different times of the day, it depends on when is most comfortable for us but praying throughout the day can also be effective for us, e.g. whenever you go to the loo (busy parents) or having regular slots. Maybe 5min slots as reminders on your phone, it doesn’t have to be the same way, words, etc all the time. Maybe you would benefit from a routine, maybe you wouldn’t, everyone is different.
With others, on our own? – in Acts we can see that people prayed in groups and although a lot of the gospel stories talk about Jesus praying by himself it isn’t the only way. There are benefits to both, e.g. praying with others can strengthen them, hearing the words of others talking to God, but it can also be really uncomfortable, people feeling unsure of themselves and not actually conversing with God but an audience. On our own can also be a struggle because we can forget, other things can come up and we let them take priority. However, it is us alone with God, focusing on him and nothing else. (It’s like exercising? It can become a chore rather than a pleasure, routine rather than relationship)
Shut out the white noise – frequently other things can take our attention when praying, it can be good to get away from tv, internet, mobile. There are so many things demanding our attention in this world and sometimes we need to shut it out. If we think about other things while praying, things not to forget we can write down, they can be part of our prayer life.
Anywhere, God is all around us, we need to just bask in his presence, E.g. be careful when driving
Talked about stimuli, different ways to pray – group feedback
Different stimuli and methods (different wedding dresses)
Prayer diary – journaling. Writing a page per day of thoughts about the world, use them as part of your prayers. Or write down your prayers, it might help you focus, knowing your prayers and able to check back and see what you have written.
Through worship – singing praises to God can be your prayers, I like to close my eyes in worship (if I’m not doing anything else), helps me focus on God and the words
If artistic then be artistic, etc – use your gifts in prayer, God gave us our gifts, we can use them in praise to him
Sitting by ourselves? If you don’t normally pray by yourself it is something you might want to try
Together in a group – alternatively if you don’t go to a prayer group and can’t make the church one you might find you want to meet with a couple of others here and have a prayer triplet, meeting for 20mins (ish) every week or fortnight to share prayers, and so you can help each other develop the prayers, alternatively you might want to go through what we discussed last week and ask those you are living with (if you live with others) if they would like to pray with you
Out loud – scary thing, use to make me feel sick and yet , nothing you can say is wrong because it is to God, others may be amused, confused or surprised but they might feel blessed by the words, it might also help them develop in prayer as well. Romans 8:26
Liturgy vs freestyle – some people prefer using set words and words from the bible, some prefer to just say things, both can be good to try. It tells us in the bible not to babble in prayers, liturgy or writing our prayers down might reduce that.
Prayer walk – again it’s understanding different stimuli, praying for the things you see every day, asking God to open your eyes to the need in your area, asking God to show you the area you live in or your church is in.
Use candles, music, water, images, lots of options
Group
Task – read through the papers in your group, use it to create a prayer wall, add comments, cuttings, etc
Pray for each person in small group
Homework:
Carry on your long term task
If you always pray in one particular way then try something new, e.g. praying little bits all day or just a long time in the morning, or try being artistic, etc
When praying don’t just take a list of requests, trying leaving them til last, focusing on praising God first
Start a prayer diary
Pray to close
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Prayer Training - Week 1
Prayer Training – Week 1 (16th September 2008)
Pray before we start as a group,
Introduction, prayer box for questions.
“God’s power is released in the lives of the people who pray!”
Group discussion,
Do we agree with this statement?
What do you value (or enjoy) about prayer?
What do you think you are missing from your prayer life?
What expectations do you have from this training?
What is prayer?
Relationship, a dialogue
§ The chance to develop intimacy and closeness with the father (John 15:5-8)
To be part of God’s great works, he challenges us through our prayer lives
God loves us and wants to meet with us (Acts17:26-27), he created us for that purpose
It’s the opportunity to align ourselves with God’s thinking, as we align ourselves we can see his work and understand Him and His works better
Short drama comparing the relationship with God to a relationship with a husband. This includes the time spent with a husband and how much time we spent with God and how the talking works.
Why should we pray? – any ideas?
To develop our relationship with God, all relationships depend on communication, that is how they grow – think of other relationships, John 15:15
Because God cares about us and wants to hear from us
Because we can go straight to our God, Ephesians 2:18
Helps us to release control, enables us to be vulnerable – Psalm 145:14
Because Jesus prayed - come to that later – and because we are Christians
To tell God our problems
For guidance
We can put our thoughts into words and it helps us to be listened to
Because it can change our life and the lives of those around us, he can heal us through prayer (God doesn’t always give us what we want, e.g. courage, he may give us more opportunities for e.g. courage)
It changes our viewpoint of those we see, touches us and challenges us, we can see the world as God sees it, develop compassion (e.g. the apostle John, at one point he wanted to destroy a whole city because some of its residents didn’t want Jesus to stay there, Luke 9:51-54 – after a lifetime in God’s presence, John wrote “whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”, 1 John 4:8
To do his work on earth we should know him
Because God answers prayers, we can see God working in our world, people become Christians
When we pray God will reward us (Matthew 6:6) – with appropriate rewards
It’s never a waste of time
To release God’s power
Because we can
By confessing our sins he forgives them, 1 John 1:9
Why do I need to pray if God knows everything about us?
Because of building the relationship
Because (as above) by confessing our sins, we can understand they have been forgiven, we are developing our selves (?)
Video clip – Bruce Almighty
Sometimes it is hard to know if God answers our prayer, sometimes we feel like we are ranting but through it all we can still be in conversation with God.
Group question
Have you ever experienced answered prayer? Any that particularly stand out for you?
Have you ever experienced unanswered prayer?
What affect did these experiences have on you and your relationship with God?
Unanswered Prayer (Richard)
The reasons there might be
Our actions stopping things from changing
God knowing the situation best
In hindsight the prayer would have been something else
Certain things we can’t change
We don’t always get what we want
Wrong motives
God’s will is different and we don’t always understand it
Free will
Sometimes we don’t know or understand and we won’t while on earth
People in the bible, e.g. Moses, Habbakuk, Paul
Just because he doesn’t answer does not mean he doesn’t care
Waiting (Richard)
It’s a Step of faith – based on what you have just heard prayer is a step of faith, we can call out to God and think he doesn’t hear us or we can ask a prayer and see problems still happening. Alternatively we can have our prayer answered where others tell us it is a coincidence. Prayer is understanding that we are not in control and trusting that God will do many things from it. We are committing parts of our lives to God and that is frightening. We hear about prayer being of faith in James 5, of Elijah praying that it would not rain and it didn’t for 3 and a half years, he then prayed and he prayed again and it rained.
Focus on Jesus in prayer – talk about it in groups and discuss what this tells us about Jesus and therefore what it tells us about our prayer lives
Matthew 6:5-8
When you pray (not if)
Go into your room and close the door
Father will reward you
Do not babble
Luke 9:28-36
§ Prayed with others
§ Prayed on a mountain
§ Amazing things happened, his clothes glowed (our clothes don’t tend to glow)
§ God spoke (revealed that “this is my son, whom I have chosen: listen to him”) – God told people to listen to Jesus
Matthew 26:36-45 – Jesus in Gethsemene
§ Asked for something to be taken away – unanswered prayer
§ But “yet not my will but yours” – recognising that God was in control, that it was God’s will he was looking to
§ “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” – prayer can change us
§ giving all control to God
§ coming to God in pain, suffering and stress, he was in a desperate state
§ We can talk to God about ourselves, about our own pain
§ went off by himself
§ he prayed exactly the same thing 3 times, we can also pray things the same way, we don’t always have to think about different words
§ He spoke to the father
John 17:1-26
§ Praying to God
§ Prays for himself, disciples & all believers
§ Understanding the disciples will face things (doesn’t ask they will be taken out the world) but asks for them to be protected
§ Understands God is in control
§ Understands that we need to be taken care from the evil powers of the world (devil)
§ Glorified God
§ It seems the prayer isn’t answered but in fact he is in a deeper spiritual way
Mark 1:35, Luke 5:15-16, Luke 6:12-13, Hebrews 5:7
§ Jesus prayed in different places at different times of the day
§ Jesus withdrew to lonely places
§ Jesus prayed before important decisions (choosing disciples)
§ Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears, we to can pray with emotions
§ After prayer Jesus acted, we should associate prayer with action
Homework:
Task for the weeks of training and beyond (story from walking on water book)
Focus on a particular thing that you want to pray for, something that maybe you haven’t prayed about before (maybe even someone). Pray about it every day for the weeks that training is on and until the week of the 24hour prayer and then see if anything has changed.
Rewrite a Psalm in your own words
Pray this everyday for the next 7 days “I pray that I (or we) being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Amen”
Pray for each person in small group – do this by writing down something about each person in the group and then thank God for it. Maybe you want to share your focus for homework or come up with your own way in your group.
Maybe from hearing about unanswered prayer, you have been convicted of something you know needs to change or a prayer you need to continue praying. Maybe you feel God isn’t listening, we can keep asking, being honest with how we feel (come to this next week). Renew this request, ask God to act and be honest.
Pray to close as a group
Pray before we start as a group,
Introduction, prayer box for questions.
“God’s power is released in the lives of the people who pray!”
Group discussion,
Do we agree with this statement?
What do you value (or enjoy) about prayer?
What do you think you are missing from your prayer life?
What expectations do you have from this training?
What is prayer?
Relationship, a dialogue
§ The chance to develop intimacy and closeness with the father (John 15:5-8)
To be part of God’s great works, he challenges us through our prayer lives
God loves us and wants to meet with us (Acts17:26-27), he created us for that purpose
It’s the opportunity to align ourselves with God’s thinking, as we align ourselves we can see his work and understand Him and His works better
Short drama comparing the relationship with God to a relationship with a husband. This includes the time spent with a husband and how much time we spent with God and how the talking works.
Why should we pray? – any ideas?
To develop our relationship with God, all relationships depend on communication, that is how they grow – think of other relationships, John 15:15
Because God cares about us and wants to hear from us
Because we can go straight to our God, Ephesians 2:18
Helps us to release control, enables us to be vulnerable – Psalm 145:14
Because Jesus prayed - come to that later – and because we are Christians
To tell God our problems
For guidance
We can put our thoughts into words and it helps us to be listened to
Because it can change our life and the lives of those around us, he can heal us through prayer (God doesn’t always give us what we want, e.g. courage, he may give us more opportunities for e.g. courage)
It changes our viewpoint of those we see, touches us and challenges us, we can see the world as God sees it, develop compassion (e.g. the apostle John, at one point he wanted to destroy a whole city because some of its residents didn’t want Jesus to stay there, Luke 9:51-54 – after a lifetime in God’s presence, John wrote “whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”, 1 John 4:8
To do his work on earth we should know him
Because God answers prayers, we can see God working in our world, people become Christians
When we pray God will reward us (Matthew 6:6) – with appropriate rewards
It’s never a waste of time
To release God’s power
Because we can
By confessing our sins he forgives them, 1 John 1:9
Why do I need to pray if God knows everything about us?
Because of building the relationship
Because (as above) by confessing our sins, we can understand they have been forgiven, we are developing our selves (?)
Video clip – Bruce Almighty
Sometimes it is hard to know if God answers our prayer, sometimes we feel like we are ranting but through it all we can still be in conversation with God.
Group question
Have you ever experienced answered prayer? Any that particularly stand out for you?
Have you ever experienced unanswered prayer?
What affect did these experiences have on you and your relationship with God?
Unanswered Prayer (Richard)
The reasons there might be
Our actions stopping things from changing
God knowing the situation best
In hindsight the prayer would have been something else
Certain things we can’t change
We don’t always get what we want
Wrong motives
God’s will is different and we don’t always understand it
Free will
Sometimes we don’t know or understand and we won’t while on earth
People in the bible, e.g. Moses, Habbakuk, Paul
Just because he doesn’t answer does not mean he doesn’t care
Waiting (Richard)
It’s a Step of faith – based on what you have just heard prayer is a step of faith, we can call out to God and think he doesn’t hear us or we can ask a prayer and see problems still happening. Alternatively we can have our prayer answered where others tell us it is a coincidence. Prayer is understanding that we are not in control and trusting that God will do many things from it. We are committing parts of our lives to God and that is frightening. We hear about prayer being of faith in James 5, of Elijah praying that it would not rain and it didn’t for 3 and a half years, he then prayed and he prayed again and it rained.
Focus on Jesus in prayer – talk about it in groups and discuss what this tells us about Jesus and therefore what it tells us about our prayer lives
Matthew 6:5-8
When you pray (not if)
Go into your room and close the door
Father will reward you
Do not babble
Luke 9:28-36
§ Prayed with others
§ Prayed on a mountain
§ Amazing things happened, his clothes glowed (our clothes don’t tend to glow)
§ God spoke (revealed that “this is my son, whom I have chosen: listen to him”) – God told people to listen to Jesus
Matthew 26:36-45 – Jesus in Gethsemene
§ Asked for something to be taken away – unanswered prayer
§ But “yet not my will but yours” – recognising that God was in control, that it was God’s will he was looking to
§ “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” – prayer can change us
§ giving all control to God
§ coming to God in pain, suffering and stress, he was in a desperate state
§ We can talk to God about ourselves, about our own pain
§ went off by himself
§ he prayed exactly the same thing 3 times, we can also pray things the same way, we don’t always have to think about different words
§ He spoke to the father
John 17:1-26
§ Praying to God
§ Prays for himself, disciples & all believers
§ Understanding the disciples will face things (doesn’t ask they will be taken out the world) but asks for them to be protected
§ Understands God is in control
§ Understands that we need to be taken care from the evil powers of the world (devil)
§ Glorified God
§ It seems the prayer isn’t answered but in fact he is in a deeper spiritual way
Mark 1:35, Luke 5:15-16, Luke 6:12-13, Hebrews 5:7
§ Jesus prayed in different places at different times of the day
§ Jesus withdrew to lonely places
§ Jesus prayed before important decisions (choosing disciples)
§ Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears, we to can pray with emotions
§ After prayer Jesus acted, we should associate prayer with action
Homework:
Task for the weeks of training and beyond (story from walking on water book)
Focus on a particular thing that you want to pray for, something that maybe you haven’t prayed about before (maybe even someone). Pray about it every day for the weeks that training is on and until the week of the 24hour prayer and then see if anything has changed.
Rewrite a Psalm in your own words
Pray this everyday for the next 7 days “I pray that I (or we) being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Amen”
Pray for each person in small group – do this by writing down something about each person in the group and then thank God for it. Maybe you want to share your focus for homework or come up with your own way in your group.
Maybe from hearing about unanswered prayer, you have been convicted of something you know needs to change or a prayer you need to continue praying. Maybe you feel God isn’t listening, we can keep asking, being honest with how we feel (come to this next week). Renew this request, ask God to act and be honest.
Pray to close as a group
Introducing Prayer Training at Highbbury
Becky Hartwell, our Pastoral Assistant, writes ...
I want to focus a little on prayer.
September and the beginning of October will be a focus on prayer for the church. There will be prayer training, there will be talks on Sunday mornings about prayer and there will even be a 24 hour prayer event. Some of you might wonder why I have been so keen on getting involved in prayer at Highbury.
I have been very fortunate to have people praying for me since before I was born and there are times when I feel my survival has been because of this. Prayer can transform people, areas and churches. Speaking to God is a frightening thought when we realise that’s what prayer is. But it doesn’t have to be daunting and intimidating because God is waiting to hear from us.
God has given us such an amazing gift of being able to talk to him at any time and in any place. We can talk to those around us every day but never truly talk of our struggles or pain but with God we can reveal our innermost secrets. He loves us and longs to hear us speak to Him. And sometimes we can sit with God and not say a word and He still understands our pain. We can talk for hours about our day or bring our happiest moments and He listens. Prayer is difficult, it can be challenging to communicate with someone whom you may not hear a reply and is not sitting in front of you. So it is good to meet together and to discuss ways to develop this part of our relationship with God.
The aim of the Prayer Training is to encourage us all in our prayer lives, to open us up to a relationship with God through prayer. It is for everyone, from those who have been praying for years to those who are only just learning how to.
The training will be on three Tuesdays in September: 16th, 23rd and 30th, starting at 8.00pm and finishing by 9.30pm. If you can only attend one or two then please come to those. There will be notes available for people to take home from the course or to pick up in the following weeks.
Let us get excited about prayer, about what God can do with our prayers. Let us pray for the prayer training and all that will happen in the Autumn term.
Phillipians 4 v 6 - Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.
I want to focus a little on prayer.
September and the beginning of October will be a focus on prayer for the church. There will be prayer training, there will be talks on Sunday mornings about prayer and there will even be a 24 hour prayer event. Some of you might wonder why I have been so keen on getting involved in prayer at Highbury.
I have been very fortunate to have people praying for me since before I was born and there are times when I feel my survival has been because of this. Prayer can transform people, areas and churches. Speaking to God is a frightening thought when we realise that’s what prayer is. But it doesn’t have to be daunting and intimidating because God is waiting to hear from us.
God has given us such an amazing gift of being able to talk to him at any time and in any place. We can talk to those around us every day but never truly talk of our struggles or pain but with God we can reveal our innermost secrets. He loves us and longs to hear us speak to Him. And sometimes we can sit with God and not say a word and He still understands our pain. We can talk for hours about our day or bring our happiest moments and He listens. Prayer is difficult, it can be challenging to communicate with someone whom you may not hear a reply and is not sitting in front of you. So it is good to meet together and to discuss ways to develop this part of our relationship with God.
The aim of the Prayer Training is to encourage us all in our prayer lives, to open us up to a relationship with God through prayer. It is for everyone, from those who have been praying for years to those who are only just learning how to.
The training will be on three Tuesdays in September: 16th, 23rd and 30th, starting at 8.00pm and finishing by 9.30pm. If you can only attend one or two then please come to those. There will be notes available for people to take home from the course or to pick up in the following weeks.
Let us get excited about prayer, about what God can do with our prayers. Let us pray for the prayer training and all that will happen in the Autumn term.
Phillipians 4 v 6 - Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.
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